The next step is to start laying out my type and images. In class we created templates in InDesign and created dummy books to help in the layout process. We are creating a book in A5 format. Once we printed out our templates we were advised to pencil in grids to assist in organizing content. The next step was experimenting with different typefaces. I paid close attention to how each typeface behaved when the size and weight was changed.

Our final assignment is to take a select number of our blog entries and create a book. This is something I’ve been looking forward to as it is a combination of computer generated and hand-made material. I started this project the same way I start all of them and that is with research. I don’t have any books that were produced from blogs but I do have an ever-growing collection of graphic design books and manuals. I began by looking at the Table of Contents of each book. I noticed the spacing, the type chosen, and the use of italics, bold, etc.

By observing these few examples I start to get an idea of what color scheme I would like to use and how I’ll implement those choices. The bottom example is pretty close to how I picture my final specimen will look. I especially like the use of italics, all caps, and differing typefaces. The first thing I need to do is experiment with typefaces.

When all is said and done I am fairly satisfied with the end result. The letterform, while not entirely Frankensteined out, is also a little short of being completely successful. If I were to do this again I’d most likely attempt to play with stems and serifs a bit more. All things considered I definitely gained a thorough understanding of the nuances of each letter with this project.

The next step in the assignment is the thumbnail process. The idea is to create a letterform using only one shape. We are permitted to use three sizes of that shape but nothing more than that. Here are some of the sketches I started with:

The next step was experimentation. I somehow misplaced my flash drive so I had to work from memory. I had lost a few hours of experimentation but luckily I was able to recreate the direction I had begun to go in. First I tackled “synthesis”. I originally had selected Helvetica as a guide and meant to go on top of it with different sized circles in an attempt to emulate a color blindness test. After speaking with Dan I decided that using an existing typeface as a basis would not be the best route. Once I decided to go in another direction the ideas began to flow.

In this project we will be designing and applying a letterform system using only one basic shape. The letterforms we create are meant to communicate the connotations of the words we are assigned. I was given the words “arrogant” and “synthesis”. I began by defining each word using The American Heritage College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Once defined, I sought out connotations of each word through brainstorming. My method of brainstorming consisted of creating a composition using each word in a confined space. This technique allowed me to think more freely and perhaps come up with words I may not otherwise thought of by concentrating on the placement of each word and its’ size. This method is probably not what was expected as it has a definite end and brainstorming isn’t supposed to work that way. I also came up with a collage of sorts utilizing imagery that I felt represented the words I was assigned. Here are the examples:

In this assignment we will be analyzing a font family and pointing out its characteristics. I chose Didone, or Modern type. Some of the fonts that fall under this category are Bodoni, Didot, and Baskerville. During this part of the process I am compiling thumbnail sketches detailing the intricacies of each letterform. I am focusing on the counter, stem weight, and axis. In each sketch I am demonstrating the extreme contrast between lines and straight serifs. The axis is vertical and from what I observed, the tittle always rests far above the stem.

– Pattern Language: The power to create an infinite amount of new and unique buildings much in the way that an infinite variety of sentences can be created.

– Even though there can be a town or village with very similar structures, each one has its own character. Each garden is different depending on its relation to the sun.

– Different elements are affected in unique ways by their surroundings. Window panes, tiles, etc. are effected by where they are placed and each situation is unique.

– Copying is not the issue, it’s “what” is being copied.

– A unitary pattern, which repeats itself over and over again, in any given place, always appearing each time in a slightly different manifestation of activity and space.

– Patterns “in the world” are created by us, because we have other, similar patterns in our mind from which we conceive, create build, and live these actual patterns in the world.

– Patterns exist and are altered by us. We create standards and we have the ability to alter them and create new uniquer patterns to alter.

– Abstract representations of the very morphological (scientific study of form and structure, usually without regard to function) rules which define the patterns of the world.

– Patterns in the world “exist”, where as patterns in our mind are dynamic.

– Each pattern is a rule which describes what you have to do to generate the entity which it defines.

– We create patterns that solve problems and are adopted by others and become standards for solving those particular issues.

– It is in this sense that the system of patterns forms a language. Language is comprised of a set of elements, or symbols and a set of rules for combining these symbols.

– In a pattern language, the elements are patterns, there is a structure on the patterns, which describes how each pattern is itself a pattern of other smaller patterns. The combinations and variations are endless. There are also rules, that are embedded in the patterns which describe the way in which they can be created, and the way that they must be arranged with respect to other patterns. In this case the patterns are both elements AND rules. Rules and elements are indistinguishable. The patterns are elements, and each pattern is a rule which describes the possible arrangements of the elements which are themselves again other patterns.

– A pattern language is a system which allows its users to to create an infinite variety of those three dimensional combinations of patterns which we call buildings, gardens, towns.

-A pattern language defines the limited number of arrangements of spaces that make sense in any given culture. There can be many variations or combinations of these elements but there is an enormous amount that would not make any sense at all.

– A patterns language gives the power to create coherent arrangements of space.

– Pattern language is generative. It lays out the rules of arrangement and provides guidance for constructing arrangements which adhere to the rules.

– In relation to architecture every person uses the language differently depending on his or her particular vision.

* Overall, throughout the differences, there is a consistency, a harmony, created by the repetition of the underlying patterns.

– Every work of building is made the same way and the use of pattern languages is not something that is only utilized in traditional societies, it is as fundamental as the fact of speech.

– Freeways, roofs, all follow patterns.

– Architects are responsible for for no more than perhaps 5 percent of all the buildings in the world, freeways, buildings, etc. are the result of decisions made by officials and individuals depending on each particular situation.

– Each rule of thumb is part of a system of other rules of thumb, organized so that the rules of thumb can be used, not only to make isolated decisions, but to create complete things.

– Each individuals pattern language is the sum total of that individuals knowledge of how to build. Each persons is completely unique to that individual, even though fragments of pattern are shared.

* The moment you are faced with the task of designing anything, you utilize your pattern language as it exists at that time. This means you are limited by the extent of your own language (knowledge).

– A pattern language is really nothing more than a precise way of describing someone’s experience in their particular field.

– The patterns, which repeat themselves, come simply from the fact that all the people have a common language, and that each one of them uses this common language when he makes something.

– Pattern language is the origin of all the structure in the man-made world.

Full of Holes: A column that is too narrow is full of gaps. Extra spaces between sentences.

Some typefaces can be too close in weight to mix well, even if they are from the same family. Pseudo Small Caps: These automatically generated characters look puny and starved; they are an abomination against nature. Only use small caps when they are officially included with the type family.

Squeezing lines and changing the weight of a font to fit.

Pseudo Small Caps. Squeezing lines and changing the weight of a font to fit.

Squeezing lines and changing the weight of a font to fit. Tightly tracked text: Letters that are tracked too closely.

This project was assigned to make us more familiar with the visual differences that exist within a specific type family. I was assigned Adobe Garamond Pro and discovered that is was created in 1989 by Robert Slimbach. The font is listed on Adobe’s website as the company’s first historical revival. Adobe Garamond is meant to be the digital interpretation of the roman types of Claude Garamond and the italic types of Robert Granjon. As a class we were asked to create compositions meant to display the differences found in our typefaces. First we were required to display our typeface in a way that showcased the entire alphabet and a set of glyphs of our choosing. There was a total of four displays to be made, one for Regular, Italic, Semibold and Bold.

Regular

Italics

Semibold

Bold

Next, we were asked to come up with eight descriptive words for our typeface. We then created a display that showcased the font in action in different sizes.

One part of the project was to take the descriptive words we came up with and brainstorm on the connotations of that word. We were asked to then take our words and create compositions to demonstrate the words using only glyphs. The first one is fluid and the second one is curvy. The class guessed my words but i’m sure the compositions could be more successful.

Fluid

Curvy

These four compositions were meant to demonstrate the differences within this particular typeface. The first composition demonstrates stem, the second is spine followed by stress then counter.

Stem

Spine

Stress

Counter

This composition is an analysis of the typeface and visual representation of its anatomy. I used color to differentiate between the x-height and baseline.

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